What to expect from SAW v. FURIA

Today ends in heartbreak for one of these two teams. Even though SAW were not regarded as favorites coming into Copenhagen, their 2-0 start caught the attention of everyone, only for them to be unable to cross the finish line in the BO3 series. As for FURIA, the Brazilian panthers were the total opposite, coming into the Major after a 3-0 Americas RMR record, only to be on the brink of elimination after two BO1 losses.

In a series where the loser goes home and the winner advances to the next stage, the pressure is on the Brazilians' side, hoping to conquer another spot for the Americas region and conquer back the fans' confidence after the poor start. Can they do it?

Also read: Stickers delayed as Valve makes players re-draw signatures at Major

Can Portugal Stay A Warrior?

Making the Major was a dream come true for SAW and the Portuguese CS community, who previously only had one representative at Majors in Ricardo "fox" Pacheco. But as is in other sports, the Portuguese are not satisfied with just making it there and the two first wins in Copenhagen set them on a path where it seemed clear they would advance to the next stage but Cloud9 came knocking and paiN took advantage of the open door, can they stop FURIA from going through or is this the end of the line for the Portuguese?

Is their mental strong enough?
The veto favors the Portuguese
Michel "ewjerkz" Pinto has been the only positive, recently
Can Christopher "MUTiRiS" Fernandes out-call FURIA?

From kittens to panthers

FURIA arrived in Copenhagen hoping to replicate their run at the Americas RMR, with two BO1 wins and a BO3 victory to advance without much fuss. That couldn't have been further from the truth, as FURIA immediately went down to the 0-2 bracket with losses against Legacy and Lynn Vision. Since then, the Brazilians have yet to drop a single map, winning both elimination BO3s 2-0 against KOI and ENCE. Can they do what SAW did in the European RMR or will they fall in the Brazil v. Portugal derby?

Everyone except FalleN has been performing better than their respective average
KSCERATO is in form, finally
Need to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the veto
Two straight wins increase the morale

Also read: EU RMR LCQ scrapped as Europe lose RMR spot

Previous Matchups

There is no previous record of these teams playing against each other, but SAW are 0-1 against Brazilian teams in the Major, having lost against paiN, yesterday.

Likely Vetoes

FURIA ban Anubis
SAW ban Mirage
FURIA pick Inferno
SAW pick Nuke
Ancient will be the decider

PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Opening Stage

Bo3

SAW

0 - 2

FURIA

All maps

SAW	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.1
Christopher 'MUTiRiS' Fernandes	28 - 35	-7	83.8	75.0%	1.03
Rafael 'arrozdoce' Wing	28 - 36	-8	78.3	52.5%	0.86
Ricardo 'roman' Oliveira	19 - 30	-11	62.0	62.5%	0.76
João 'story' Vieira	22 - 33	-11	58.3	57.5%	0.69
Michel 'ewjerkz' Pinto	13 - 34	-21	45.8	45.0%	0.44

FURIA	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.1
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo	45 - 20	+25	107.7	80.0%	1.72
Yuri 'yuurih' Santos	33 - 22	+11	95.8	82.5%	1.38
Andrei 'arT' Piovezan	31 - 23	+8	77.2	80.0%	1.27
Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes	28 - 29	-1	81.1	87.5%	1.27
Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato	29 - 22	+7	71.0	77.5%	1.10